The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in a recent report, indicated the region is not reducing the rate of fatalities caused by road traffic accidents according to its original targets.

According to the commission’s latest report issue 342, released on November 6th, the region fell short of its reduction targets at the end of 2010, and has staggering reduction rates for the first years in the 2011-2020 period.

The ECLAC used data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) to show that from 2010-2013 road traffic fatalities had only been reduced by 0.2 percent, bringing down the rate from 16.1 deaths registered in 2010, to 15.9 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013.

To address regional RTA fatalities, ECLAC and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will hold a regional meeting to analyze the region’s current situation.

In Belize, the government and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) launched a historic Road Safety Project in March 2013.The CDB said that the project could become a template for improving road safety in all of the Bank’s Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs).

The CDB has provided a loan of US $7.248 million, and GOB contributed some US $1.596 million for the project that supports interventions to build the country’s road safety management capacity, improve the safety of road infrastructure and improve post-crash care.

“The project also has an education component which will seek to promote improved awareness among motorists in the hope of changing the behaviour of road users and it will also seek to improve the enforcement of traffic laws,” the CDB said.